


Clean

by Kien Rugastelo (cein)



Series: Fai's Hair [2]
Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Bathing/Washing, Hair Washing, Language Barrier, M/M, Non-Canon World
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25665664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cein/pseuds/Kien%20Rugastelo
Summary: There's more to cleaning one's hair than brushing and taking everything out.
Relationships: Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane
Series: Fai's Hair [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860934
Kudos: 35





	Clean

It was about 10 seconds after Kurogane fell unconscious in his lap that Fai had realized his tactical error. He was figuratively pinned down now for the next several hours, and though his hair was pulled back and free of decoration, it was still filthy and stank of ash. Certainly, he could magic it clean, but it never felt quite right after — not quite as satisfying as scrubbing it clean himself — and Kurogane had grown sensitive to Fai’s magic with more exposure. Even such a small spell risked waking him even from an artificial sleep.

Fai hummed quietly to himself, considering the situation, and decided Kurogane could stand a little mischief.

* * *

When Kurogane began to wake, he could feel scarred fingers tracing his face. Over an eyebrow, down the length of his nose, across a cheekbone, along the edge of his ear. There was only one person who could pull that off without startling him awake, old instincts that had kept him alive before rearing to the front to disable potential threats. It had to be a spell of its own, Kurogane figured, one designed to settle his soul and cool his temper.

“Feeling indulgent this morning, Kuro-tan?” Fai’s voice floated down from above, and Kurogane’s resulting smile was just a bit fond.

“You seem to like it,” he responded. It was almost a game at this point, seeing how long they could go before one of them admitted outright that Kurogane liked the gentle attention just as much as Fai liked to provide it.

“Just a small treat,” Fai murmured off-handedly, “Before I put you to work.” That had Kurogane opening one eye to a smile as bright as the sun. “Time to take responsibility, Kuro-chan.”

“Haa?”

* * *

Not 10 minutes later, Fai had Kurogane fetching a bucket of cool water from the stream that fed into the baths while Fai determined which of the bottles would be best for his hair of the half dozen that sat in the small cabinet. “Still don’t see why I have to do this,” Kurogane grumbled as he reentered the washroom. It wasn’t much, with a long basin full of heated water that ran along one wall, a raised tub above a small wood fire, and slats in the floor to allow for drainage.

“Because it was your fault it got so dirty in the first place,” Fai chided, chin resting in one hand where he was leaning over the edge of the tub he was already seated in with his hair carefully balanced on top of his head so as to not dirty the water, having made quick work on rewashing his body just before. “And then you had to go and spend  _ all night _ spreading the oils on your hands all over it. It’ll be a wonder if we can get it washed out at all!”

Kurogane didn’t have much of an argument for that, so he grabbed a bowl and a stool, settling down beside the tub. “What’s wrong with the water already here?”

“It’s too hot,” Fai supplied, “My hair’s not like yours, Kuro-rin, it’s much easier to damage.”

Kurogane could believe that. Where his hair was coarse, Fai’s was fine; where his was thick, Fai’s was thin; Kurogane’s tended to fall straight, Fai’s curled and waved. In Yama, Fai had gone so far as to fashion it with small braids and coat it in mud to protect it. People didn’t have hair like that in Nihon — it wasn’t too big a stretch that the standard of care for it would be different from what he was familiar with. “Lean back,” Kurogane instructed, and Fai complied wordlessly, allowing Kurogane to spill the braid over the edge of the tub and shake it loose.

“First, we’ll need to get it a little wet,” Fai instructed, and that was easy enough. Kurogane filled the bowl in one scoop and poured it over Fai’s head, letting the water run down the length of his hair. The water that didn’t immediately fall between the slats was dark. “Now, we need to clean the scalp with the soap from the green bottle.”

Kurogane grabbed the bottle and dumped out a palmful, rubbing his hands together briefly before reaching forward. “Just the scalp?”

“At first,” Fai confirmed, tilting his head just so as Kurogane’s fingers reached his hair, almost hesitant in how soft they moved. “Really dig in there, Kuro-sama.”

That was all the encouragement Kurogane needed before he increased the pressure, fingernails pressing in. It wasn’t long before the shampoo began to foam up, and the content sigh that Fai let out was nearly silent until Kurogane scrubbed behind an ear and it morphed into a croaking moan.

“Just like that,” Fai murmured, sinking just a little more into the bath. They remained that way a couple minutes, Kurogane mapping out every inch of Fai’s scalp and Fai basking in the sensation before Fai apparently determined it was time to move on: “Anois bog níos faide síos.”

Well, that wasn’t helpful. Kurogane frowned — Syaoran and Mokona must have moved out of range. “Mokona.”

The  _ heh _ Fai produced at that was long and musical, but he must have understood the meaning because his eyebrows screwed together, trying to recollect lessons from worlds ago. “Duck?” he tried.

Kurogane huffed fondly at hearing Fai ordering him to duck as if they were in battle — it wasn’t as though they’d had the time or mutual understanding to go into other conjugations. It wasn’t the most helpful of directions here in the baths, though. “Down?” Kurogane tried, keeping the options simple, “Water?”

“Down,” Fai clarified, and Kurogane’s hands moved down, attending to the dampened hair below and working down to the tips, at which point he spoke again. “Water.” Kurogane tipped Fai’s head back just a bit more, keeping one hand on his forehead to control the flow as he slowly poured bowls of water over Fai’s hair until it was free of suds, now visibly cleaner. Fai then reached for the blue bottle. “This. Here, down,” he indicated, pointing at a section of hair away from his scalp.

Kurogane understood well enough and applied the conditioner as Fai muttered absently, likely complaining about the ill-timing of Mokona’s movements. He didn’t need a translator to understand that much. Fai’s voice dipped up and down in his own tongue even more than Kurogane had perceived it when he had been hearing it in his own language, Mokona’s abilities likely compensating for the tonal qualities of Kurogane’s language. It was as if Fai’s native language was entirely in song compared to his own, and Kurogane thought maybe he should learn a bit of it sometime if they ever had the chance. The liquid had been worked into the strands all the way to the tips, and Fai passed back a brush without breaking the stream of consciousness pouring from his lips.

It was much easier to brush out this way than doing so dry, and the brush moved easily through Fai’s hair until all the tangles were gone. By then, Fai had either ran out of complaints or had become tired of talking to himself because his chatter had slown to a halt. “Water,” he instructed again, and Kurogane rinsed the conditioner out gently, actively trying not to re-tangle the hair, though he suspected Fai might have ruined that work just a bit when he gathered his hair into a towel and piled it on top of his head. “Come,” he beckoned.

“There’s no point taking a bath first thing in the day,” Kurogane muttered, knowing Fai wouldn’t understand.

And he didn’t. “Come, Kuro-chroí,” Fai repeated, adamant, inviting. There had to be limits to what was inevitable, Kurogane thought as he perfunctorily stripped and scrubbed down before joining Fai in the tub. “Rinne tú post maith,” Fai commented warmly.

Kurogane had no idea what he was on about. “We should be getting that boat,” he complained without any bite. Truthfully, it was rare to get a real chance to relax, and they had told the others they would likely be a few days, so there wasn’t a real reason to rush.

Whatever Fai thought Kurogane had said had him babbling on again, and Kurogane was content to close his eyes, and wait for Fai to make sense to pull him out of the tub. The pattern of Fai’s voice had changed just a bit, but it wasn’t that strange, Kurogane thought. Fai spoke at least two languages that he knew of — was now the sole known living speaker of both. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if Fai made the effort to keep both alive as long as he was.

What’s more, Fai’s voice wrapped around him like a spell, relaxing his muscles even more than the hot water had, and though he hadn’t been sleepy before, Kurogane allowed his eyes to slip clean shut. It wasn’t as though he needed his sight to stay alert, and Fai was more than capable of responding to any threats that may have come up. None did, though, and they remained undisturbed as time passed, and Fai’s voice floated along as if carried on the steam.

Eventually, the tenor of Fai’s voice changed and Kurogane felt when Fai leaned a bit more in his space, felt one of his hands fall on his chest, and he peeked one eye open, reading the look on Fai’s face easily. “We’re not doing this in the bath,” he griped, “Other people have to use these you know.”

“You’re no fun,” Fai admonished, but backed off without complaint. “I guess we should get that boat.”

Kurogane’s eyebrow ticked. “You’ve just been speaking nonsense this whole time.”

“Not the whole time,” Fai corrected playfully.

“You understood what I said about the boat.”

“You like when I speak nonsense,” Fai asserted, leaning forward to peck Kurogane’s cheek before he stood. Kurogane couldn’t rightfully say Fai was entirely wrong. “But you’re right, Syaoran and Mokona are waiting. And besides,” he said, now letting his hair down from the towel, “You still need to put my hair back up.”

Kurogane was not one to waste any time.

**Author's Note:**

> Kurogane is in for some major teasing when Mokona finds out he's the only one allowed to braid Fai's hair.


End file.
